So you think Nurse drew up a contested fadeaway 3? They weren't able to execute the play or get to the spot they wanted. Harden cut Kawhi off busting inside, who knows what the play was supposed to be.

It's OK to criticize the players or Nurse for not executing what was called but criticizing the way it played out is nothing but a hot take

No, he did not draw a contested fadeway, no coach does that. What he planned was a screen by whoever Harden is guarding so he could switch onto Kawhi. The criticism is that this doesn't generate enough stress/movement on their defence, doesn't take into account who is setting the screen, it can be easily anticipated by Houston, and that getting into it that late makes the shot more difficult because you're now against the clock (though the latter is probably more execution by the screener than coaching, but still).

Nothing wrong with wanting Kawhi to take the last shot on an ISO, but they gotta put him in a better position to succeed with more off-ball movement by other players during the ISO (to keep the defence honest) and more time for an outlet pass or offensive board/tip-in. That was too simplistic against a seasoned team like Houston, and they know it.

But no matter. I actually like this stuff happens during regular season games because you can't really mimic these kind of scenarios in practice and they'll need it in the playoffs.

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Seeing it’s Snowmageddon tonite in Trawna..was able to take in the Celtics vs Nets game...The Nets are as scrappy a team as they come come and hung in there all game long..but lost it when Kenny Atkinson seemed to think he needed to save all his timeouts for reasons known only to him. With the team on the floor down by 1 .....in a move or lack thereof reminiscent of Dwane Casey ......he let it go for two minutes and was down by 12... then he called TO. A day late and a buck short.

Nurse does more things well than not and one of them is he always seems to know when to call a TO to stop momentum or get another personnel package on the floor.

With Nurse, I find myself saying "good timeout" WAY more often than with Casey when I was usally shouting "TAKE A TIMEOUT!"

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Well this team has no closer. Kyle was clutch in the past and Kawhi has shown that he struggles to make a shot at the end of a tight game this year. So is it reasonable to just ISO at the end of this game? We had all the momentum after that crazy minute or so and Kawhi walks into the frontcourt, dribbles for 10 seconds, gets a lazy screen and gets a contested shot off with less than 1 second. Should have done better.

You iso every single time. What is inexcusable is to turn it over with the game on the line.

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Normally you try to ISO a crafty ball handler against a slow footed big on the perimeter in space. Harden was an interesting choice to pick on - I suppose Nurse was just going off Beard's lazy defender reputation. But on any final possession, even Harden's not going to be dogging it. Harden has a long wingspan, quick feet and enough bulk to body Kawhi, so he was obviously a bad choice, in hindsight. Kind of like Paul Pierce was... he never defended, except during the playoffs and at the end of games.

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Seeing as we got Kawhi the ball at the top of the key ISO'd in the following games I imagine that's what they wanted from Norm in Houston. That's a far more advantageous position for Kawhi to work or kick out when he sucks the double.

The problem I see and I'm thinking other see is all the talk about ATO's being a point of focus, having a rotating special teams coach, it being the main edict as to why he was supposed to be Casey's antidote and the right hire. For all the talk the results have been underwhelming.

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I think he’s clearly a bright basketball coach. I wonder if he struggles with how to coach a superstar. IE letting Kawhi go iso in crunch time vs drawing up offences. David Blatt is a great coach but struggled to coach Lebron. That’s a bit different but wonder if there is something there.

There is probably some organizational message about wearing kid gloves with Kawhi too. I recall reading he didn’t like pop yelling at him. Maybe part of the lack of cohesion and reliance on iso’s is partly due to nobody wanting to correct or coach Kawhi.
That’s not to say Kawhi wouldn’t accept it. Maybe they are treating him with such kid gloves thing are not getting fixed.

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I wonder if Masai would have hired Nurse if he knew he had a shot at signing Kawhi?

Probably would have made an actual offer to Bud who knows Kawhi from Spurs days.

Interesting what if scenario: Bud got plucked from the Spurs coaching staff the same off-season (2013) that Masai got hired by the Raps. I don't remember the exact timing, but given Masai's open admiration for the Spurs culture, you wonder if Masai would have considered hiring Bud to coach the Raps instead of holding onto Casey when he first got here. And what would a Masai-Bud team look like today?

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Probably would have made an actual offer to Bud who knows Kawhi from Spurs days.

Interesting what if scenario: Bud got plucked from the Spurs coaching staff the same off-season (2013) that Masai got hired by the Raps. I don't remember the exact timing, but given Masai's open admiration for the Spurs culture, you wonder if Masai would have considered hiring Bud to coach the Raps instead of holding onto Casey when he first got here. And what would a Masai-Bud team look like today?

Ujiri was officially announced 3 days after Bud was officially announced in Atlanta.